The cottage garden

This sumptuous coffee-table book by gardener Dalby (Containers in the Garden) showcases some of the choicest cottage gardens in the U.S. and Europe. Praising the "uncultivated aesthetic and picturesque charm" of English cottage gardens, Dalby expounds on the plots kept by English authors Gertrude Jekyll (1843--1932), who "was famous for the way she mixed plants and focused on their shapes and colors," and Vita Sackville-West (1892--1962), who maintained a "sea of flowers with winding passages" around her home. Dalby's focus expands across the globe as he moves into the present day. Images of the area around interior designer Bunny Williams's Connecticut abode show amaranth and black-eyed Susans in plots surrounded by gravel pathways, and scenes from a small-town German garden include purple tulips and bleeding hearts hemmed in by boxwood hedges. Other highlights include a Danish kitchen garden planted in terraces carved out of a hill; an idyllic Bournville, England, cottage bordered by pilgrim and white cloud roses; and a Dorset estate that mixes trimmed shrubs with unkempt wild foliage. Dalby's tendency to take closeup photos of specific features of the gardens can sometimes make it difficult to get a sense of their overall layout, but the vibrant foliage pictured nonetheless makes an impression. Garden lovers will be enchanted. (Sept.)